You are Valuable to Me
by rhysandh
Summary: She was content to spend her days hiding from the world, believing that she was protecting everyone from her wretched powers. She accepted the fact that she would live her life running from the Extremist Organization, a cult bent on killing every last blood manipulator. However, a notorious space pirate strongly disagrees with her thinking when he barges into her life.
1. Vermillion

Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama. This fic has elements from Avatar the Last Airbender, but it is not crossover.

Enjoy!

* * *

After years of living in hiding, scraping away in abandoned buildings, and struggling to meet ends, Rani's time was up.

An hour ago, she had been looking for the cheapest spices she could buy in the bazaar to use for tonight's dinner. As she was walking through the market trying to find the spice that would add enough flavor to her meal and still leave her with enough money to spend another day, a hand shot out from an alleyway she had been walking by and dragged her into its narrow path.

She let out a small yelp as large rough hands pushed her up against the wall. Her head smacked against the hard clay.

Rubbing the back of her sore head to recover from her abrupt assault, she looked up and noticed that there were three men glaring her down angrily, all of them wearing crimson red robes.

She immediately froze. Her eyes swept over their hooded figures and recognized the white circular symbol on one of their robes. _Members of the Extremist Organization! Shit!_ She thought making a dash for the clearing behind her.

But one of the men lashed out and simultaneously latched on to her waist and slapped his other hand across her mouth, dragging her further into the darkness of the alleyway.

He whispered hotly against her ear, "We know who you are, what you are, filthy leech! You've been found and there's no more hiding! You're coming with us!"

She squirmed in the hooded man's tight grip and bit hard into the hand covering her mouth.

"Gah!" Cried out the robed man, removing his bloody hand from her mouth.

"I don't know what the hell you're talking about," she spat. She couldn't admit to being able to control another person's blood. Besides, even if they are right, the Extremists had no way of proving their claims unless she actually reached out to control their movements. It was better to feign ignorance.

The other two men surrounded her, making sure she couldn't escape. "Don't play dumb! You're obviously a blood manipulator!" One of them hissed acidly.

"I literally have no clue what you geezers are on about. Don't you old men have anything better to do than harass girls twenty years younger than you," she laughed humorlessly.

"Shut it! We know exactly how innocent you are," remarked one of the men sarcastically.

Still trapped in the robed man's grip despite her biting him, Rani slammed her heel down hard on her attacker's foot.

"Fuck!" He cried out, unwillingly releasing her. She ducked under one of the men's outstretched arms, making a desperate dash for the exit.

Unfortunately, the other two grabbed both of her arms and kicked her to the ground.

"Hey, you stupid bitch! Hold still! Guys, help me hold her down!" Yelled out one Extremist member as he pinned Rani's hands behind her back and bound her hands with thick rope.

The other two members came to his aid. One of them held Rani's head to the ground, while the other was about to gag her mouth.

She tried to turn her head away from the guy with the gag. She thrashed and kicked harder than ever before in her desperate attempt to get away screaming, "Get off me! Get – the fuck off me!" But her cries were futile.

No one would hear her or even care to see what all the commotion was if they did hear her. Not here, not in this part of Adra, where robberies and muggings was a daily occurrence.

The three men continued struggling to gag and pin her down. She couldn't move her head, she couldn't move her hands, and she couldn't reach in and control their blood if she couldn't move her hands! She couldn't do anything! They were going to take her away to probably be sold as some slave or even killed!

After four years of hiding, she'd been found out. Rani already lost all her friends and family to these people. She'd be damned if she let them take her too! She was probably one of the last free blood manipulators on Adra. She could not let herself be captured!

Just as one of the men was about to stuff her mouth with a cloth she heard a loud thud against the ground.

It was deathly quiet for a few seconds. The only sounds coming from the buzzing of villagers shopping during the daily market rush.

Slowly, she opened her tightly closed eyes – she didn't even realize she'd closed them – and saw that the three Extremist members pinning her down were lying still on the ground, open eyes unseeing.

More seconds passed and she noticed blood pooling underneath their bodies and when she finally looked up to see who caused such swift destruction in such little time, she met the most brilliant pair of light blue eyes she had ever seen.

Honestly, his eyes were all Rani could see, she observed as she squinted up at him. The rest of his face was covered in white wrappings with wisps of vermillion colored hair peaking out from his gray hood. _He's definitely not from around here._

The strange man observed her bound form for a few seconds, blue eyes taking in her roughed up appearance.

To her it looked like he was contemplating whether he to release her or just leave pitifully bound on the ground. However, he seemingly made his decision because he swiftly walked around her bound body and cut the ties binding her wrists not uttering a word the whole time.

He didn't offer to help her stand up at all she observed.

Once she was free Rani warily turned to the strange man. She held out her hand, "Ummm…thank you for h-helping me. Those guys probably would've put me up in the B-black Market if you hadn't…killed them," she explained cautiously.

The man blinked at her outstretched hand for a few seconds before slowly grasping her hand in his much bigger one and shaking it. "Don't mention it," he replied abruptly.

Taken aback, she thought he meant what he said literally. He appeared to be rather uncomfortable with their current situation, even awkward.

Maybe he wasn't planning on saving a young girl from potential rapists and molesters, thus drawing unwanted attention to him and his outlandish hair that screamed foreigner. _Yeah, that's probably it_. Although, this man must have some crazy strength to take out, no, not just take out; kill all three of those men at the same time.

"You're not from around here," she said.

"Nope. I'm not," he confirmed, lifting what Rani noticed was a purple umbrella on to his shoulders.

There wasn't a cloud in the sky and it only ever really rained once or twice a year. Not only that, but the sun was unbearably strong today and Rani had to wear loose pants and a long loose top as protection from the sun's strong rays. Why on Adra did this guy have a rain umbrella?

"Well may I know the name of the person who saved me?" She asked, trying to get more than two word sentences from him.

"Kamui," he stated, looking her down.

"My name's Rani," she offered kindly.

She realized how much taller he was than her. She barely made it past his shoulders. Although, he was pretty short for a man his age. Most of the men she was used to seeing on Adra were taller and a bit more bulky than this guy from years of heavy labor.

However, she could tell from the way his black shirt fitted his chest perfectly that he wasn't extremely thin either. He had broad shoulders and while his forearms were covered up in wrappings, they were nicely shaped. Strong defined forearms had always bin a bit of a turn o –

"Enjoying the view?" He asked amusedly, noticing her eyes lingering on him.

Her cheeks reddened at being caught in her admiration. She whipped her head to the side to cover her red face and crossed her arms.

"N-no! I was just wondering how someone could wear such dark colors in this kind of weather!" She quickly explained. "And not to be rude, but you scream foreigner with your orange hair and mummified body. Aren't you hot?"

"Of course I am," he teased.

"T-that's not what I meant!" She stuttered again, much to her embarrassment.

"Then what did you mean?" He asked with fake ignorance.

She growled in frustration. "You know exactly what I meant."

Laughing softly he said, "It's ok. You're not the first person to find me exceptionally easy on the eyes."

Kamui tilted his head and smiled at her from under his wrappings. He was incredibly arrogant if not a little odd. But she still wanted to know what his purpose for being here was.

Adra wasn't exactly the most luxurious planet to visit unlike planets such as Earth, and there wasn't much on it to begin with. And while Earth had it's issues with tyrannical governments and rioting humans. It still was rather beautiful. Earth had forests spread all over, and deserts, mountains, glaciers, everything.

Planet Adra was just one big ball of sand plus the corrupt governments and uprising tribes, such as her own, the Hinjabis. All there was to go around was sand. Someone could walk thousands of miles and still only find sand, with the occasional scattered villages.

Water was precious and centered at various locations all over the planet, and near water is where villages were usually centered around. There wasn't much to do on it from a foreigner or tourist perspective besides meddling in local black markets.

 _Maybe that's what he's here for_. It could be that Kamui saved her from the Extremists only to take her as a prize to offer to some dealers in the black market.

Suddenly feeling suspicious about his intentions towards her and given his inclination to give short clipped answers to her questions, she began to ask him "Why are you here Kamui? Where are you fro –?

"Enough about me, let's talk more about you," he smoothly interrupted, and despite his wrappings covering everything but his eyes, she could tell there was something wrong with his grin from the way his eyes steadily darkened. Nothing about his expression comforted her in the least. There was something…off about his smile, something off about him.

Rani began to feel unease crawl up her back. Maybe she would have been better off with the Extremist group. This guy went from being awkward and almost charming to suddenly…very intimidating.

But she didn't back away from him. Her parents always told her, never let them see that they got to you; it'll only encourage them to continue.

So she stood her ground. Unfortunately, that didn't keep him from invading her personal space. He stalked towards her till their chests almost touched. She could see his blue eyes more clearly now, which she noticed also had specks of green in them.

Shaking her head to break out of her admiration of his features, she glared up at him, "Well, what do you want to know about me?"

Rubbing the back of his head, he sighed mockingly, "I already know so much about you."

She stared up at him in shock at that revelation.

"What I want to know is," suddenly, he caged her against the stonewall and looked straight into her brown eyes, "why you didn't control those idiotic bastards bodies when you had the chance."

 _What the hell?! How does this guy know about me blood manipulating?! I haven't tried to use my powers in years!_ She raised her hands to reach into his body and use his blood to pin him against the wall, but he was quicker.

He dropped his umbrella and snatched up her wrists, slamming her into the wall. Rani groaned at the hard impact.

She tried to move her hands, but Kamui had a death grip on her wrists; it was impossible to break free! _This is it!_ _He's gonna turn me in, or blackmail me, or something!_

"L-let go of me! What do you think you're doing?!" She yelled. This situation seemed very familiar to her predicament that only just occurred minutes before.

Raising her leg, she tried to kick him in the groin, but he simply stepped to the side and pushed his leg between hers.

She opened her mouth to scream, praying someone would hear her. But, once again, he figured out her intentions and grasped both her wrists in one hand, slapping his free hand on to her mouth, muffling her screams.

Staring down at her impassively, he brought his covered mouth to her ear, his lips almost grazing the outer shell. She gasped at the close contact and he gently whispered,

"Don't even try it little girl. No one can control my blood but me."

She didn't really understand what he meant by the part about him controlling his blood because he wasn't a blood manipulator, of that she was sure. But she was in no position to question what his cryptic words meant.

She stopped struggling, she knew when she was beat. Kamui wouldn't release her unless she complied, at least for now. She allowed her tense muscles to relax and stopped fighting against him.

Sensing her compliance, he removed his hand from her mouth and released his grip on her wrists.

She massaged her sore wrists after having them be strangled to death. "How do you know?" She asked quietly, refusing to meet his eyes now.

Crinkling his eyes, he tilted his head, "I knew who those guys were. I have…dealt with their group before."

That answer didn't comfort her in the least. It just raised more questions. Had he been following her? The Extremist Organization wasn't that well known. They worked in the underbelly of Adra's villages. He had to have been following her to know who they were. If he was stalking her, for how long had he been following her? The Extremists had been hunting her for a few years now and only just found her an hour ago.

Sensing her wariness and confusion he condescendingly explained, "Why else would Extremists go after such a weak looking girl, if you didn't have the ability to control another person's blood."

Weak looking! She'd show him what weak was! Sure, she was rather short and thin looking but her physical appearance was a deception! She could have reached into her would be kidnappers bodies and crushed their hearts if she really wanted to! But she didn't. She couldn't, because –

Suddenly, he clutched her dark brown hair at the roots, breaking Rani out of her thoughts and forcing her to look at him. "Ouch! Hey, let go!" She yelled, trying to pry his hand out of her hair.

Ignoring her command, he narrowed his eyes and repeated his question, "Why didn't you use them?"

"How could I?" She seethed. "I hardly use them at all! I haven't used them for years because I'm forced to hide them!" Her eyes began to water, "It's sick! The things I can do. Being able to reach into someone's body and taking control of them just like that. No one wants to be around someone who has that kind of power!"

"And I don't blame them," She finished quietly, wiping her tear streaked face on the sleeve of her white covering.

He released her hair and moved back a few steps, giving her some space. "So let me see if I figured this out," he said jovially. "You," he gestured towards her, "are ashamed of you're powers. The Extremist Organization is after anyone who has similar abilities to yours, and I," he pointed at himself, "am currently the only one who knows, I am right?" he chuckled gleefully.

She crossed her arms and glowered at him. She refused to answer his question. There wasn't any point to answering anyway; she figured that he was going to do whatever he wanted regardless of her answer.

* * *

Judging from her silence and that pissed off look on her face, Kamui assumed he was correct in saying that he indeed had her cornered. _Perfect,_ he thought.

Once he makes his offer to her, this tiny Hinjabi girl will have to join his crew unless she wanted him to rat her out to the Extremists. Of course, he would be bluffing when he threatened her. He would never, could never put her in danger like that.

He would tear anyone, limb from limb, who even thought of touching her. But he needed her to agree to his terms, and this was the only way he saw her complying. Then, maybe, he would finally be able to get some damn sleep once she was off this hellish planet. _But what if she – no!_

He was confident she would accept his proposal. She had to. These last few years this stupid girl had been fucking with his mind, making him second-guess himself, which was something he never did before she forced her way into his thoughts.

He was always so sure of himself, always right; no one ever questioned him (except his idiot sister). She is one exception.

He clenched his teeth in irritation at that thought. Despite what anyone may think, he and Kagura slowly made peace with each other after their fight between him, Kagura, Umibouzo, and her stupid adopted family.

They still have their sibling spats from time to time, but for the most part they were family again. He, the protective older brother and she, his dumb little sister. The only one he still had an issue with was that baldy.

Kagura was the only other person Kamui would allow himself to bend for, no one else. He'd make sure little Rani knew her place before him.

* * *

This guy sure had some mood swings. Two minutes ago he was laughing at her situation and now he seemed somewhat reserved, lost in his thoughts. But it was hard to tell if he looked troubled because most of his face was hidden behind those damn wrappings!

Finally, looking back at her, Kamui gave her that stupid grin of his from under his wrappings, that were beginning to annoy her and asked, "Since it sounds like you're pretty much an outcast on you're planet, would you like to join me and my crew? We're all unwanted heathens living it up in the same ship! You know, just one big dysfunctional family."

She decided to ignore the fact that he just insinuated that she would fit in with heathens and dysfunctional men, assuming his crew was mainly made up of men. Yet, her life so far has been pretty hectic…was hectic the right word? It was probably the biggest understatement ever. But who knows, maybe she could fit in with a bunch of rowdy men considering how her living conditions have been.

Unfortunately for Kamui, she was content to spend her days living in abandoned buildings by herself. She was perfectly capable. She just had to be more careful next time to cover her tracks.

Anyway, coming back to her current predicament, she wanted to know what he meant by 'joining his crew'.

Suspicious, she asked, "Crew? What crew? What do you mean?"

"Oh! You don't know? Was it not obvious enough for you from just looking at me?" He gestured to himself. "I'm a pirate! Well, space pirate I guess is more accurate. Or thief, or terrorist…whatever you wanna call it," He said happily.

Bewildered, she laughed in disbelief. "What?! No! What makes you think that joining you're…you're terrorist organization," she spat, "is any better than my situation right now!?"

Once again, his…whole demeanor seemed to change. She noticed a look in his eyes she had yet to see. Greed. _On par with his occupation as a pirate_ , she thought, mentally rolling her eyes.

His eyes roved over her form intensely. He studied her from head to toe, eyes lingering on her hands every so often. Rani crossed her arms to hide her hands. She felt even smaller than she already was under his intense scrutiny.

"You may not value your powers, but I do. They are…handy." He explained carefully, " I could use someone like you on my crew, even if you look pretty useless."

Gritting her teeth at his insult, she said, "Thanks, but not thanks. I appreciate your backhanded attempt at flattery, but I'd rather not use my powers against victims of your violence. And besides, I'm fine living in hiding."

For a second, she swore she saw cold fury in his eyes before it disappeared as quickly as it came.

He tilted his head to the side and grinned, "I'm sorry, but I think you misunderstood. I'm not asking you. I'm telling you."

It was funny seeing this little girl's face go from looking like a wide-eyed gaping fish to something like a cat about to scratch out his eyes because she was just commanded like an animal to join his crew.

 _Screw standing my ground!_ She thought as she backed away, looking around her to see if she had any chance of escaping. This guy was mad! She barely knew him and now he wanted her to join his space pirate thugs just so he could exploit her powers? He's crazy for thinking she would lie down and agree to that!

Picking his nails for non-existent dirt he drawled, "Don't even try it," seeing that she was preparing to flee from the corner of his eyes. "You run away, I'll just come find you and drag you to my ship. Or, I'll turn you in. The choice is yours."

"That's not a choice," she bit out. What he gave her was a shitty ultimatum! But in all honesty what choice did she really have? She looked towards the market at the end of the alleyway as she considered her options.

She could run, but he would most likely catch her. Even if she somehow managed to escape and report him to the authorities, they would want to know what he threatened her with. What would she tell them then? And even if she came up with something believable without revealing her abilities, she was pretty sure Kamui could take out the local police with ease and then either take her by force or turn her over to the Extremists.

Either way, he wouldn't relent. He definitely didn't seem like the type to just let go of thing and he also definitely knew about her beforehand. He had been watching her for quite sometime, Rani was sure of this. She just didn't know why.

She would probably find out in the coming weeks, or months…maybe years. _Hopefully not._

For now she saw no other choice. She sighed to herself. _I can't believe I'm about to do this. I don't know this guy. I don't know where he's from. I don't even know what he plans to do with me!_

Dreading her next words she refused to meet his eyes and looked at the ground. "Fine. I'll join you and your stupid space pirates," she muttered. Looking up at him, her brown eyes clashed with his blue ones. "But know this…I am not joining you willingly," she warned.

"Hmph." Smirking, he slowly approached her, his face mere inches away from hers. His covered lips were so close. Rani froze. If she moved even a little she might accidentally brush his lips. Gleefully taking in her discomfort he softly murmured, "I don't need you to be willing, you'll do as you're told if you want to keep all you're limbs attached to your pretty body."

Backing away from her stiff body he took her limp hand from her side and slowly shook it. His eyes drilling into hers shocked ones, "Welcome to the Harasume little girl."

What had she just agreed to?


	2. Perspective

Disclaimer: Do not own Gintama. If I did there would be way less fighting and more...romance. Especially Sougo with Sougo and Kagura!

* * *

4 Months Earlier

Kamui wasn't a particularly good person, at least, not by most people's standards. He didn't normally fall into the good guy category. If Kamui had to use one word to sum up his actions and…admittedly psychotic personality, he would use: villain.

He was a villain through and through, though, not in the traditional sense of the word. He didn't want absolute power to take over the universe. No, he didn't want the universe. Instead, he desired to become the strongest, simply because he could.

Many knew him as the infamous space pirate who has killed hundreds in cold blood. Or the Yato who was bored and needed to let off some of his bloodlust in order to sate his obsessive need to feel a person's guts and blood spilling all over the ground.

In every sense of the word, Kamui knew that he fit the description of a villain perfectly. Villains like him tended to work better on their own. He didn't need anyone, nor, did he care for anyone because no one stood out enough to warrant his consideration.

After facing hundreds of opponent's day in and day out all their faces begin to blur. Their names were irrelevant, their identities insignificant to him.

The only two people who really mattered to him were worlds away. His mother who died when he was only eight years old, and Kagura who is living happily on Earth with her adopted family.

He never realized that he could take interest in anyone else, much less somewhat begin to care for _her_. He wasn't expecting her to be able to get under his skin!

Which is why when he began having _those dreams_ , he pushed them to the back of his mind to, hopefully, be forgotten.

However, he didn't forget them. Kamui remembered them clearly, too clearly. He never remembered his dreams or even had any dreams for that matter. Kamui didn't even know if these could qualify as dreams. They were too vivid and kept disrupting him throughout the day.

Sometimes, when he would be in the middle of a fight, a flash of her dainty fingers folding clothes while softly humming a tune entered his thoughts, breaking him out of his concentration.

The dreams pissed him off! She pissed him off! He tried his damned best to forget the dreams, to forget her! But with each dream he had, his curiosity spiked.

Each one centered on her and she lived in what looked like a desert? He had no clue what the meaning or significance of his dreams, visions, whatever they are, were.

Yet, once every four or five months over the course of the last two years, Kamui would have dreams where he seemed to be living bits and pieces of desert girl's life.

Desert girl seemed like an appropriate name for her since he knew little about her.

It was as if he was Desert girl viewing the world from her own eyes. He only ever saw her slim tanned arms and hands, which were sometimes flipping through pages of books. One of them being some fact book about different places on Earth, judging by a photo of the Northern Lights accompanied with some information about the place on one of the pages.

Other times, he would see her sitting by a small window taking in the sun's harsh glare as she sat at an empty table, happily eating rice with chicken and curry as she flipped through another book with a wizard on the cover. Not only could he experience her world from her perspective, he could also share her emotions as if they were his own!

He could feel her excitement and happiness as she sat reading her stupid books. Kamui didn't even like reading! He hated it! It bored the hell out of him! Why sit and read a book about aliens, space, and fighting when he could just go out and actually experience those things?

He'd always been a high-energy guy, reading and writing never appealed to him. The only reason he ever learnt the skills was because of his mother. If it weren't for her forcing his younger self to sit down and practice he would most likely be illiterate now.

But even though he despised reading he could still experience the joy she got from reading books. It was…unusual. He hadn't really felt true joy and happiness in a long while. It's not like he forgot what those emotions felt like; they were just…rare for him. To suddenly feel this girl's happiness because of reading some silly book was…bizarre, but not necessarily awful, Kamui decided. Just weird.

A majority of his dreams consisted of her cooking, reading, or doing laundry, mundane activities. But there was one dream he had that stood out from all his previous ones that took place on a night he was in a particularly bad mood.

Earlier that day, after a rather brutal fight with members of the Akurta, Kamui actually got injured. He rarely ever got seriously injured in any of his battles. But this time he was taken off guard.

Overwhelmed by the scent of blood in the air, Kamui took on more people than he could keep track of. When his back was turned one idiot managed to stab him with a sword coated in tranquilizer causing his body to freeze up and hit the ground hard.

Seeing his Captain lying paralyzed on the ground, Abuto, who was fighting near Kamui, quickly rushed to his aid. He grabbed the Captain's limp arm and placed it around his shoulder, allowing him to lean against Abuto.

"You ok?" Asked Abuto, slight concern entering his eyes.

Glaring at him from the side, Kamui acidly replied, "I can't move, what the fuck do you think?"

Grunting, he muttered to himself, "He'll live," and proceeded to lead his immobilized leader to the ship's infirmary.

Once he safely got him back on to the ship, Kamui was forced into receiving medical care and put to rest. He felt humiliated. His senses were impeccable; nothing ever caught him off guard. But, for once he was wrong. That whole day, to sum it up, sucked and he desperately just wanted to sleep it off.

That night he spent in the infirmary was when the dreams of Desert girl started to really quip his fascination with her. This time, she was walking across a massive desert with a small knapsack hitched over her shoulder. She slowly trudged along the sand and pulled the hood of her cloak over her head.

The desert was incredible, unlike anything Kamui was used to seeing, and he'd traveled all over the universe. There were dunes of reddish golden sand everywhere and nothing else for what seemed like miles. The bright sun rested high in the clear blue sky shining its rays down on the entirety of the land.

He could actually feel the heavy heat role off Desert girl in waves, and he wasn't even truly there. Being a Yato he would never survive the harsh temperatures of this desert without concealing every inch of his skin. He could never really experience the sweltering atmosphere without getting burnt to death. This vision through her was the closest he would ever get to living that experience without his wrappings.

He relished in the sun that she was feeling. For once, he could understand Hosen's desire to feel the sun beaming down on him. However, his master holed himself up underground and never built up tolerance for certain levels of sunlight.

Kamui could still walk under the sun free of wrappings depending on the intensity of the light. But this kind of sun was something else entirely; unique only to a desert's hot climate and he felt…at peace for once, free for once. Which was strange considering the fact that he was a pirate living a lawless liberated life.

He was used to the kind of freedom that allowed him to create panic amongst the masses and upturn countries and governments. But this was a different kind of freedom.

Not a single person was within sight of Desert girl. There weren't even any animals or plants or any life whatsoever. It was just…her…walking…in the silence of the scorching desert, without anyone disturbing her or getting in her way, without anyone questioning her place or her actions. And even though she was exhausted from walking hours across the dry ground, she actually felt content.

The next morning when Kamui woke up, he wondered – not for the first time – whether these repetitive dreams of her were real. It was too much of a coincidence having dreams of the same person over and over again for the last two years. And nothing too strange happened in any of his dreams.

Aren't dreams supposed to have some unrealistic elements to them? Every single dream he had up until this point has been completely normal. And if the dreams were real, why the hell was he having them in the first place?

What was he supposed to do about them! What did they mean for him? Questions were teeming in Kamui's mind, but he continued to ignore them, and ignore the dreams. As long as they didn't disrupt his sleep he was fine with having them. They actually managed to get him to relax at night.

Unfortunately, for Kamui, the desert dream would be the last of the peaceful dreams of Desert girl.

* * *

About four months after his last dream, he has another dream. However, this time the dream was much more intriguing than he anticipated. It also revealed something about Desert girl he would never have suspected of her.

The first thing Kamui registered when he entered her mind was the excruciating pain coming from her stomach. She was clutching it tightly as pangs of hunger wracked through her small frame. He could feel her hunger as if it was his own.

And it. Was. Painful.

Kamui had never in all his life felt this kind of pain eating at him from the inside out.

She was lying on the ground, curled up in fetal position, desperately trying to stifle her cries. The only sounds coming from her mouth were painful whimpers.

It…stirred something in him.

How did she even get in this famished state? How long had she gone with no food?

Growing up, he and his family may not have been the wealthiest, but they never went hungry. There was always food waiting on the table for him either prepared by himself or his mother when she was feeling well enough. He'd never experienced true hunger.

He supposed that he was fortunate enough in his childhood to not have experienced such levels of excruciating hunger. But Desert girl obviously wasn't as fortunate, and he wondered if she had any friends or family herself. She was always alone in his dreams of her, and she was alone now.

As she lay on the ground her fear of dying from hunger shot through him. Her loneliness and hopelessness hit Kamui like a bucket of cold water.

They were familiar to him, but also different. True fear wasn't something Kamui was used to feeling. He hardly ever got scared of anything or anyone. It was the opposite for him. Everyone feared him. He thrived off that fear. It's what made him tick.

As for somber feelings such as loneliness and hopelessness? Ever since he joined the Harasume at a young age, Kamui busied himself with training to get stronger. He never sat down and analyzed his feelings over losing his mother and abandoning his family. There was never time for regretting his life decisions. He buried any troublesome memories and emotions that hindered his quest to become the strongest.

Kagura calls it running away from his problems. He calls it being productive. Even now, he still kept his distance from his sister, only visiting her when it suits him or coming to her aid when she desperately needed it.

But Desert girl's fear of dying triggered something in him. He was used to feeling delicious satisfaction over breaking someone's head open. Or almost uncontrollable excitement after seeing drops of blood spilt. He was used to feeling victorious, the thrill of the battle, he was used to feeling invincible, powerful, not…human vulnerabilities.

Which is why, the sudden onslaught of her very human emotions made him feel, for the lack of a better word…uncomfortable. But what astounded Kamui the most was what happened next.

As she writhed on the ground trying to suppress her hunger a large lizard came in to view and tried to scurry past her. But she was more aware of her surroundings than he thought because the next thing Kamui knew, the lizard's scaly body was being pulled towards Desert girl's outstretched hand.

Once the creature was firmly grasped in her hand, she dragged herself with her free hand toward the kitchen drawer reached up and pulled out a knife.

Taking the knife by the hilt she stabbed the lizard through its back. Blood immediately gushed out of its wound. Then, she weakly raised her hand and motioned towards the fluids coming out of the creature.

Kamui stared at the air in shock. Crimson colored liquid was flowing through it in small streams, slowly draining the lizard's body of any blood. The process took only minutes.

Once all the blood was drained from the animal's limp body she let it pool on the floor and crawled towards the stove. She weakly stood on her feet and hunched over the cook top. Then she turned on the appliance and proceeded to cook the lifeless lizard.

* * *

He woke with a start. Sitting up in his bed he pressed his hand to his beating chest, trying to regulate his breathing. The dream didn't disturb him as much as it fascinated him. _These dreams have to be real._

He knew exactly what Desert girl was. Kamui hadn't met one in years because their were so few of them left, but that ability didn't belong to just anyone.

She was a blood manipulator and therefore an enemy of the Yatos. Blood manipulators were one of the only species that posed a real threat to the Yatos godly strength because their powers allowed them to manipulate someone's body from a distance in an instant by reaching inside and controlling their blood.

It was a rare and beautiful gift in Kamui's opinion. Not one he wanted to extinguish, but take advantage of. For hundreds of years the Yatos and blood manipulators tried to wipe each other out in, what Kamui believed, was a pointless ethnic war. As a result of the violent cleansing, the population of both races had declined throughout the years.

Now days, Yatos and blood manipulators tended to be scattered across different planets. The last time Kamui had met one was when he was a child just starting out with the Harasume. The blood manipulator he worked with was a hit man who used his abilities to take out anyone his clients told him to. He worked briefly with the Harasume on a mission, but not without a couple fights breaking out between him and some crewmembers.

However, Kamui had no such racial issues with the hit man, Desert girl, or blood manipulators in general. Now that he knew that she wasn't just some random peasant he's been dreaming about, but actually a powerful opponent to fight or recruit – it would be a waste to kill her – he was actually rather interested in her whereabouts. Yet, Kamui had no clue how to go about finding her. There were deserts on many planets; she could be on any of them.

For now he decided to wait. Despite what Abuto and others thought of him, Kamui could be quite patient when he really wanted to be. He'd wait a bit before starting his search for her. First, he had to somehow accumulate a list of as many deserts he could find and begin searching, that would take some time.

He also had to come up with some excuse to give Abuto and the rest of his crew for wanting to search different deserts without telling them about his interest in some girl. Not because he was embarrassed or anything, but because there were no women on his ship, never have been.

Yato women were as strong as their male counterparts. But many Yato families believed that a woman's main duty was to protect her children and home, not engage in outside battles. He didn't know how his crew would react to having not just a teenage girl, but also a blood manipulator on board fighting with them. He'd have to figure out how to deal with that small detail later.

Abuto he knew wouldn't have any problem with her. But, the rest of the crew wouldn't be too fond of the idea and might try to murder her or something. But once Kamui made it clear that she was not to be harmed they wouldn't dare try anything, at least, nothing that would leave a mark. Not if they wanted to get their insides scrambled, which he highly doubted they did.

Getting out of bed and walking towards his private bathroom to get ready for his day, Kamui started to thinking of a good excuse to feed the others before starting his search.

* * *

About three weeks after Kamui finally decided to begin his search for Desert girl he had yet another dream of her. How many dreams was that now? He lost count long ago, but he suspected that it was in the teens.

When he woke up in Desert girl's mind, this time she was walking through a town at night. The moon glistened high in the sky and there wasn't another person in sight. She seemed to be the only person out right now.

As she was walking through the empty streets Kamui sensed a presence behind her. However, she didn't seem as attuned to her surroundings as he was because she didn't show any signs of recognizing that another person was following her. Usually, whenever Kamui was tailing someone, if they knew he was following them, they gave some sort of physical response. A pause in their step, slight turn of the head, anything.

But she continued walking unaware. He decided that if he were going to recruit her, he would also have to train her to be a bit stealthier than she was now. If she even escaped her current stalker.

Suddenly, a hooded man appeared in front of her seemingly out of nowhere. She stopped in her tracks. "What do you want?" She asked, her voice wavering slightly.

The hooded figure pulled out a gun and began to walk towards her. "You," he stated simply.

The man raised his gun and pointed it at her. Kamui wasn't concerned though. Desert girl should be able to take this thug out easily with her abilities. But that's not what she did.

Instead, much to Kamui's surprise, she began to back away slowly. He could feel terror coarse through her body. Why the hell wasn't she controlling him?! What was she waiting for?

Kamui knew that the Extremist Organization had it out for blood manipulators, but she could easily kill them and dispose of their bodies, erasing any trace of what truly happened. Why wasn't she doing it?

As she backed away from the guy in front her Desert girl felt her back bump into another figure. She whipped her head around. Another hooded figure loomed behind her, blocking her escape.

She clenched her teeth and said, "If it's money you want, I don't have much of it. You're better off mugging someone else."

"On the contrary, you have something…very useful to us," he leered; his eyes greedily roaming up and down her body.

Kamui felt something unexplainable. All he knew was that he wanted to gouge out their eyes to keep them from looking at her ever again. No one was allowed to look at her in –in that way! It was nauseating!

If he were there right now they'd be nothing but bloodstains under his boots! No, instant death wouldn't be enough. He'd shoot holes in them first and then stick his fingers in their bloody wounds, savoring their pitiful screams.

But he wasn't with her and the bastards kept advancing on her. What infuriated him more was that he knew she could easily take them out if she really wanted to!

Her eyes widened in understanding. _Their traffickers damn_. She began to look around for any possible escapes, but the two men blocked the only paths.

Realizing this she took a deep breath to calm herself. Then she reached into the pocket of her shirt pulling out a large knife. It was glaringly obvious that she wasn't holding a normal knife, though, because Kamui couldn't even see the knife's blade. It was invisible; rather there was a faint wispy aura emitting from where the blade was supposed to be, making it known that there was still something there.

Glaring at the man who leered at her, Desert girl pointed the strange knife at him and said in a deadpan voice, "Useful? All you want is my body."

She pulled her hood up and pointed the knife at one of the men. "Well, if you want it you'll have to come and get it."

 _Huh, Well this should be interesting_ , Kamui thought. There was some trick to that knife he was excited to see.

The man holding the gun laughed, "Stupid cunt! Your knife's fuckin broken! You can't do shit to me," and began to rapidly shoot at her.

Suddenly, the knife she was holding sprang to life in her hands and quickly deflected every single bullet shot at her.

Smirking, she gestured towards the two men blocking her, "Kill them," she said to the knife softly.

The invisible weapon whipped towards the man who shot at her. It was incredibly fast! And since the blade of the knife was invisible, only the hilt could be seen. Kamui barely saw it fly through the air before it embedded itself deep in one of the trafficker's chest and quickly ripped itself from his body, heading for the other guy.

"Shit!" The other one yelled, noticing his dead companion and began to run in the opposite direction. But it was too late for him. Desert girl's invisible knife stabbed him in the back.

His body hit the ground with a thud and the blade vanished leaving only the hilt, which rested on the dead man's bloody back.

She slowly approached the body and solemnly stared at it for a few seconds before picking up the knife's hilt. Once she straightened, she put the hilt into her pocket and walked off into the dry night, not sparing the dead men a second glance.

* * *

Kamui's first thoughts when he woke up from his vision was, what was kind of knife was that? And, why didn't she simply crush their hearts or something and then use the knife to make it look like she stabbed them in the chest? Not that her weapon wasn't efficient or anything, but why even bother using it?

She would use her powers to drain blood from defenseless animals but not people who threatened her life? Kamui was many things and has killed many people, but he had boundaries. If he could help it he would spare women and children from his attacks…as well as animals!

Granted, she was starving and could barely move last time he dreamt of her. But it made no sense to him when she didn't control their blood and make it look like she killed them with a knife instead.

Sitting up in bed, Kamui ran his fingers through his long orange hair, 'I really needed to trim it,' he thought as he pondered his dream. Every time he learns something new about Desert girl more and more questions pop up. Every time he thinks he has her figured out, she somehow springs a surprise on him.

He's never met her, doesn't even know her real name, but she's somehow managed to snare his attention.

For the rest of the day, Kamui had an even harder time than usual getting her out of his mind. She kept popping up in his head!

Even when he was being debriefed by some of his crew he couldn't stop thinking about how she felt somewhat regretful when taking out the traffickers, or how her whole demeanor lit up whenever she read one of her silly books. He couldn't get the sight of her small delicate hands draining the lizard's blood from its body out of his head. The beautiful red liquid flowing through the air –

"Captain? Captain! Is it alright for us to go ahead with the current plan?"

Kamui was leaning back in his chair, precariously balancing on one of the legs when he blinked up at his subordinates coming back to reality.

"Sorry, what did you louts say?" He asked casually, subtly scratching his cheek.

Slightly put off, the Yato asked again, "Ummm is it alright for us to carry out the plans of invading the Akurta, Captain?"

Staring out the large window in front of him, he simply replied, "Uh yeah sure, that's fine."

All the other space pirates in the room looked at each other uncomfortably. Having their Captain be in an unpredictable mood did not bode well for them. He was already prone to lashing out at them when he was pissed off. This aloof, spaced out version of their young leader was no better. He actually alarmed them more than the other version. That one was still predictable.

"Are you…ok Captain? You seem kinda…out of it," one of the Yato pirates asked hesitantly.

Swiveling in his chair to face his lowly subordinates Kamui rested his chin on his hand. He grinned at them and lightly said, "I don't know what you mean."

One of the men flinched at the aggravated look in the young Yato's eyes.

Kamui picked up his umbrella, which was resting beside his chair and aimed it at his crew. "Now, unless you want your heads disconnected, don't ask stupid questions."

"Get out," he ordered, his voice soft but threatening.

Everyone filed out of the meeting room as quickly as possible for Yato men, leaving him to deal with his wrangled emotions.

This was ridiculous! Desert girl was going to drive him to insanity if he didn't find her soon! He was already showing signs of weakness in front of his crew. Spacing out on important plans due to his…distractions.

It was decided. Starting tomorrow he would officially begin his search for her.

Strolling towards a large bookshelf located in the corner of the meeting room, Kamui pulled out a thick book filled with every possible planet in existence. He knew she lived on a planet that was mostly desert judging from the strong heat of the sun and dry air he felt in his dreams.

Therefore, he needed to come up with a list of all planets that are either entirely desert or mostly desert. It was funny he thought. He always knew where he was going, who he was dealing, what to expect.

He never needed to do his own research, but Desert girl forced him to crack open a book for the first time in who knows how many years.


	3. The Game

Sorry this chapter took so long! College started back up again, which is great...I guess. Anyway, thanks for the reviews and I apologize for mistakes in this chapter. I feel like it could use some work and I'll fix it later. Otherwise enjoy! I'll try to have the next chapter up in two weeks.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gintama

* * *

Present Time

Rani stared up at him in bafflement as he teasingly shook her limp hand. She was beginning to rethink her hasty decision. Why had she just agreed to join this lunatic! In the short time she's known him, he already threatened her with bodily harm multiple times, and that name… _Harasume_ , she'd heard it somewhere before. But she couldn't quite remember when or where.

Raging large men donned in all black with huge umbrellas used as destructive weapons came to mind. A distant memory she barely remembered. But the umbrellas were familiar. It's what distinguishes them. Umbrellas. They had umbrellas. Kamui is also carrying an umbrella…

Suddenly, it clicked. Her eyes shot towards him. _Godlike strength, wears wrappings, carries around a bloody umbrella in this heat_! Her eyes widened in fearful recognition.

"Y-you're a Yato," she confirmed.

Kamui smiled down at her from under his wrappings. "Very perceptive," he applauded mockingly. Casually lifting his umbrella he asked, "I wonder what could have given me away?"

Rani ignored his teasing. She was more concerned about why he wanted her to join him and his crew of testosterone filled Yato men. Last time she checked, blood manipulators and Yatos didn't get along too well.

"You know exactly _what_ I am, is this some trick just so you and you're buddies can have the pleasure of killing me yourselves?" She asked.

Instead of answering, Kamui just smirked and brushed past her, heading out of the alleyway.

Irritated that he was ignoring her, she ran to catch up with him glaring holes through the back of his head and barely avoiding tripping over an empty beer bottle lying on the ground.

Making a sharp left, Kamui headed down the market streets, not even sparing a look back to see if she was following.

Rather, he observed all the people shopping: busy mothers with their little brat kids running around and fathers happily accompanying their wives. This planet really was different from his home where hardly anyone interacted with each other unless they were looking for a good bloody brawl.

Glancing at Rani, who had finally caught up to him and was busy huffing trying to catch her breath.

"Killing you is a waste of time, blood, and effort," he explained. "I really only enjoy killing people who can put up a fight."

She furiously wrapped her scarf around her head, which was beginning to slip from her shoulder due to her sudden sprint.

His constant belittling was infuriating! Did he really think she was so incompetent as to not even be able to defend herself?

Noticing her growing anger towards him he snickered and pointed behind him. "Looking at you and the situation you were in earlier back there, you wouldn't be much of a challenge or any fun."

Rani bristled at the insult. She didn't know whether to be offended or thankful that she wasn't worth the effort in his mind.

Kamui outright laughed at her reaction and cooed, "Awww don't be mad. You have potential. If you become strong enough, maybe, I'll reconsider and decide to fight you."

It was hard to tell if he was being serious or not. She knew she was strong. If she really wanted to, she could probably kill him right now. All she would have to do is reach into his chest and squeeze his beating heart till it no longer pumped. But she just couldn't. It just wasn't in her nature. At least, she didn't think she could stomach it.

"Of course, you could probably murder me where I stand if you really tried." He said, giving her a knowing look, causing her to grimace. How did he…

"But I know you won't. You simply don't. Have. The. Guts."

She grinded her teeth at his assumption. How much more condescending can he get! How dare he tell her what she could or would not do? He just met her! Where does he get off assuming to know her actions?

"If you know I won't use blood manipulating why blackmail me into joining you guys?" She asked, shooting him a cynical look. "Isn't that the whole point? For you to use my powers?"

"Also, how will the rest of your crew react to having me on board? You may not have a problem with me but others definitely will," she argued.

Kamui's hood began to slip, exposing more of his vermillion hair. He adjusted it and replied, "They won't know what you are."

Rani opened her mouth to interject, but Kamui quickly explained, "You'll only use your abilities on solo missions with me."

She blanched for a second before shouting, "What! Solo missions! With you? What the hell made you think that's a good idea?"

Her outburst was attracting some people to look in their direction, but she didn't care.

Great! Apparently, she was going to be spending some quality time with this bipolar pirate!

Kamui simply chuckled at her. "Hey, I'm just looking out for you. You can't use blood manipulating on regular missions with the rest of the crew unless you want to get beaten to death."

She fumed crossing her arms like a child being denied candy. She knew it was immature, but she really didn't want to spend more time with this space pirate than she had to.

"Ok, fine," she sighed. "I don't have much of a choice."

Kamui grinned and nodded at her in agreement.

"But, you can't make me use my powers whenever it's convenient for you! They are my abilities to use when I want and how I want," she said, determined to stand her ground.

Suddenly, Kamui paused in his step, turned and stalked towards her, his blue eyes darkening with each step.

He got up in Rani's face who stood stalk still staring up at him with wide doe like eyes.

Their still forms were causing a bit of traffic and forcing rushed shoppers to walk around the duo. Some of villagers shot dirty looks at the two of them, but neither of them gave a crap. They were too focused on each other, glaring the other down.

Suddenly, he grabbed the front of her shirt and pulled her face up close to his forcing Rani on to her toes.

However, she refused to meet his gaze and stared at the ground smiling inwardly, knowing that this would just piss him off more.

As predicted, she heard a soft growl emanate from his throat before her jaw was snatched with his other hand and she was forced to look up at him.

Staring at him this closely, she could actually see the outline of his mouth through the bandages. His lips seemed rather nicely shaped and –

"I warned you. Disobey me and I'll turn you over to the hunters. Do as I say and we'll get along just fine," he whispered coldly against her ear. She could feel his faint breath against the shell of her ear sending shivers down her spine.

 _What? What's he doing! He's too close! Get away! Just push him away. He's just fucking with me. What the fuck does he think this is, public teasing time!_

They were starting to get more strange looks. She felt her cheeks redden. She didn't know whether it was from anger, embarrassment, their close proximity or fact that he so boldly and forcefully touched her. Starting to feel flustered and not wanting to think too much about it she wrapped her hand around his and squeezed as hard as she could.

"Let go of my damn shirt," she hissed, her voice lacking the bite she wanted it to have.

Taking her response as compliance he gave her a cruel smile and slowly uncurled his fingers from her clothing.

Rani quickly backed away a few steps, putting some much-needed distance between the two of them.

What was with him and touching her! Sure, he's a Yato and is used to resolving his problems through more physical means, but was touching her like that really necessary? He always got too close to her and it made her feel…strange. And what worried her most was that it wasn't entirely unpleasant. In fact she felt a rather nice tingly sensation travel up and down her body every time they so much as brushed each other, and suspected that it wasn't on accident.

She took a deep breath and tried to compose herself, smoothing out her crumpled collar. "Ok, I got it the first time. No choices for me. That's all on you."

"But just so you know. I'm not that good at fighting without blood manipulation. So you may want to rethink this. I won't be very helpful in regular mission with everyone else," she added.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head about that," he said, nonchalantly resuming their walk as if he hadn't just man handled her in public.

"You'll train with me whenever I'm free. Won't that be just fun," he asked, giving her a sly grin.

"Wait, you want to train? With me? Why?" She asked, perplexed as to why he would offer to help her improve her self-defense. Didn't he know that she could and would possibly turn against him if he gave her the upper hand?

"Teaching you to fight will benefit me as well," he replied, seemingly reading her mind.

How did he keep doing that? Was she easy to read or something? Were her thoughts plastered all over her face? He always seemed to know what she was thinking and answered her unasked questions. It was annoying…but also creepy.

"Don't think for a second that I'm doing this for you," he said, twirling his umbrella around his finger. "Even if you do try to escape, you alone won't be adept enough to take me or any of my other men down and escape."

"Oh yeah? What makes you think I'm alone? You don't know my mind and you don't really even know if I'm here by myself," she said as a matter of fact. Wanting to place some doubt in his little Yato mind.

But, she was totally bluffing and completely alone. There was no one to help her out of this situation. Although, she couldn't let him keep thinking that she was alone.

 _Ha! You just keep telling yourself that_ _you conceited asshole_. She would find a way to outsmart him. She will not relent. Kamui thinks that he has her wrapped around his finger, well he's wrong. She'd find a way to escape. He's only one man after all. At some point he will tire and the moment he lowers his guard she will pounce and escape.

With those comforting thoughts, Rani turned her attention back to her current boss/captor.

"If you're not too busy, _Captain_ ," she teased. "I need to pick up some belongings from my house."

He smiled to himself and decided to humor her. "But of course. As a Captain, it's important to care for my lowly subordinates. Where do you live oh insignificant lacky of mine?"

 _Oh he's good_. She'd have to come up with other ways to get on his nerves during her time in captivity. Obviously, mocking his position of authority wouldn't do it. She'd have to think of something else.

In the meantime she will just have to bear with him. "I live just outside of this village. It won't take long. There's not too much stuff I have to bring, anyway."

Kamui nodded and said, "Do you live in a dirty little shack? Hearing the location you live in it really does seem like you're an unwanted outsider driven out by the normal people."

 _This little fucker_.

"I don't know if you can tell," she said gesturing to her worn clothes, "but I don't have much money. So I can't afford to live luxuriously."

He looked her up and down. "Clearly."

She balked at him. His nerve! How was she supposed to live with this man for the next who knows how long! She'll be driven to insanity first! All she wanted to do was pick up her damn belongings and get to his godforsaken ship.

With that final thought the odd duo continued to her house.

* * *

Upon reaching her 'home', he knew that she moved around a lot, the first thing he noticed was the extreme lack of furniture in the small apartment. All she had was a twin-sized matters tucked in the corner of the room. In the other corner was a tiny kitchen and across form it was a small bathroom. There was a closet next to the kitchen, which Rani opened, pulled out a two brown bags and began stuffing them with her belongings.

He came up behind her and whistled. "Nice place you got here."

"Oh be quiet. I know it's not much," she said, carefully placing a particularly large book in one of the bags.

Even though her back was to him, he raised his hands in surrender. "I didn't say anything about its appearance. Just that it's…cute. Much better looking than my place, to be honest."

He observed her as she filled up the bags. How much junk did she own? With the amount of moving around she did it couldn't be this much. And due to a lack of steady income she shouldn't be able to afford so many clothes, books, and other crap. Did she steal them? Probably.

At that moment, he saw her hastily shove a pair of light blue panties into the bag probably hoping he wouldn't see. How wrong she was.

He grinned maliciously.

"I've always been partial to blue. But that shade looks like it belongs on one of those 'it's a boy' baby clothes," he sniggered pulling his hood down now that they were the safety of a building away from the sun's rays.

Suddenly, she whipped around and threw her shoe at his face.

SMACK!

"Ah! Shit! What the hell!" He yelled promptly rubbing his throbbing nose, which he was pretty sure, was broken now. He hardly ever got taken off guard like that. When did she take off her damn shoes?

Said pissed off girl was shooting daggers at him, a furious blush covering her face.

"You bastard, son of a bitc –

"I was just kidding. It was a joke," he tried to reason. "Those panties seemed worn out anyway. Wouldn't have looked that great on you."

She growled low in her throat, took off her other shoe and raised her hand, threatening to launch it at his smug face.

Still holding his bruised nose, he narrowed his eyes at her and snarled, "I dare you."

However, she ignored his warning and chucked it at him, hoping it poked out one of his perfect blue eyes.

Unfortunately, he was ready this time and swiftly caught her shoe in the air mere inches from his face.

Her wish to maim him further would have to be fulfilled another day.

"Could you just keep your stupid opinions to yourself for once!" She shot at him.

He carelessly tossed her shoe to the side and laughed out humorlessly. "Dunno, I'm pretty much a master at speaking without thinking, first."

Feeling his stomach growl he spotted the small kitchen in the corner and opened the fridge. It was pretty empty except for some cold cuts and milk. Deflated, he firmly closed the fridge with a soft thud and leant against the wall, waiting for her to finish.

"I was being honest before."

She peaked over her shoulder at him, confused at to what he meant. What was he talking about? Honest about what? The state of her underwear? If so, she wasn't going to apologize because they're under things! They're supposed to wear overtime.

"You really do have a nice place here, even if it is kinda small." He gazed around the room with a solemn look in his eyes. "It's better than my place, anyway."

Rani paused in her packing at that small insight and looked up at him. It was alarming how quickly his moods changed. He could go from being all jokes and teasing one second to brooding and menacing the next. It could be tiring for anyone who interacted with him and he probably used it to his advantage more than anything.

She hasn't met many Yatos, but she was pretty sure they were more mentally stable than this. She was also sure he wasn't talking about his current 'place' but his home planet, Rakuyou, which most of the Yato tribe currently reside in.

What she wasn't sure about was whether she could pry more out of him. He hadn't shared anything about himself so far and other than being a Yato and a space pirate. That's all she knew about him. If she was going to live with him, she could at least learn more about what kind of person he is. It's good to know one's captor. The worst he would do if she asked something to personal is snap at her.

"How could this place possibly be better than yours? It's small and there's no one here," she said, gesturing around her room.

At first he didn't say anything, just stared at the floor with arms crossed even though he obviously heard her.

A few seconds passed.

The silence was becoming a bit awkward so she returned to finishing up her packing, figuring he wasn't going to answer or threaten her for asking.

He on the other hand was at a loss as to how to answer. He didn't know whether to tell the truth or not. He opened his mouth to reply then closed it.

He didn't have to tell the truth. But, he wanted to. He didn't know why, but he just did. He felt compelled to.

Looking around the empty apartment, he hesitated before quietly saying, "It was…too crowded."

She didn't respond and tried her best not to freeze up at his more than unsettling answer. Instead, she continued moving her hands, anything to mask her sudden wariness of him. She was almost a hundred percent sure he didn't mean that there was too much furniture in his house.

Attention issues, perhaps? Was that his problem as a kid? Did he feel neglected by his family and decided to run away? Whatever, his cryptic answer meant, she decided not to try her luck any further. This was enough information for now, more than she was expecting, really. She was surprised he'd said anything at all.

No more questions for now. She didn't want to seem too curious lest he get suspicious as to why she wanted to know so much about him. There would be plenty more opportunities to ask him later, once they get more acquainted with each other.

"Ok. Done. Let's go." She said, zipping up her last bag, standing up and throwing it over her shoulder.

She felt guilty though. He shared about himself. It was only fair that she share something with him. It had to be a mutual exchange of information if she hoped to get along with him, even a little bit.

Hesitating, she slowly looked back at him and said, "That's a difference between you and me."

He pushed himself off the wall, opened the apartment door and held it for her, looking at her expectantly.

"I always wished I had people living her with me. It would have made the place less lonely," she said, careful not to mention the word 'family' in her statement.

Muttering a quiet "thank you", she walked over the threshold (who knew he had manners). But before she made it through his hand shot out and grasped her upper arm, causing her to stop and look up at him questioningly.

"You have any clue where your family is?" He asked, noting how his hand easily wrapped around the entire width of her arm. Once they got on the ship he was going to make sure she ate properly.

She looked up at him in bewilderment. So much for trying to be subtle. He must not be as sensitive about his past as she thought. He even seemed like the type to be soft about that kind of stuff.

Rani on the other hand, loved to talk about her family even though they were no longer with her. She felt that if she kept talking about them, it would somehow relieve her longing to see them again and keep the memory of them alive. She wanted to keep the fact that they existed, alive.

"I have no clue where they are. Don't even know if they're dead or alive."

It was true. She hadn't seen her family in years and there was no way to keep track of the Extremist's movements. They kept moving around since they didn't have an established base. What they did with their victims, no one knew. No bodies had ever been recovered from any of their abductions.

"None at all?" He pushed, leaning forward to lightly brush some stray hairs away from her face.

She slowly shook her head and tried to free her arm from his firm grip. It didn't hurt, but anytime she touched him…her stomach did flips.

Seemingly satisfied with her answer, he relinquished her arm. She quickly pulled back and waited at the stairs trying not to pay too much attention to how her body hummed from touching his.

Kamui curiously glanced down at his hand, the one that was holding her arm, deep in thought about something.

She sighed; this was going to be a lot more trouble than she was worth.

* * *

Rani gaped up at the massive ship. _It's huge! How has no one found it or reported it! It's smack dab in the middle of nowhere!_

She could hear muffled snickers from beside her and cast her captor, who was trying to stifle his laughter, a dubious glance.

"How long have you guys been here? This thing is gigantic! Someone must have seen it by now and reported it."

He rested his hand on his chest trying to catch his breath before saying, "Even if someone did report it, it doesn't matter cause we're leaving. Right now."

The sound of sliding doors entered her ears and she looked up. A large metal walkway was steadily making its way down towards them with a large set of opened doors waiting at the top.

Kamui languidly strolled up the ramp as if he owned the damn thing (which he did) as soon as it touched the sandy ground and wordlessly gestured for her to follow him.

She clutched her bags and walked behind him, feeling a bit nervous knowing that she was about to walk on to a large ship with a bunch of Yato men who would happily see her dead.

As soon as she reached the top she hesitated just before entering the sliding doors and glanced at Kamui who was already inside. He was leaning next to a keypad with legs crossed, waiting for her.

"Come on I don't have all day. Like you said, someone's bound to have seen this ship and reported it. Let's go," he said, holding his hand out for her to take.

"And don't even try running," he murmured with hooded eyes. "I'll just drag your ass back here."

" _Pfft_ , Whatever," she bit out, slapping his outstretched hand away as she entered the ship.

"Ouch. That really hurt, Rani," he said with fake dejection, pretending to rub away the pain in his hand.

Her eyes widened a bit at the use of her given name. It sounded nice coming from his lips and sent warm shivers down her spine. The way he slightly rolled the 'r' was kind of endearing. It reminded her of how her cousin said her name.

Not wanting him to notice how simply saying her name put her in a tizzy, she continued walking right past him, not sparing him a glance or even caring to wait for him.

A loud bang sounded from behind her signaling that he had officially trapped her on his ship. But she didn't falter and kept going.

Her ill-humored captor caught up to her with ease and led her down the brightly lit hallways.

It was so quiet. She couldn't even hear any voices, just the sounds of their loud footsteps echoing through the barren halls. But she preferred this silence. She wasn't really in the mood to argue with him right now and opted to just observe him for now.

She noticed that he had his hood down again, letting his long vermillion braid free. _His hair is quite long,_ she noted. Longer than hers, and she wondered how he kept it looking so soft and sleek compared to the thick, curly mass on her head.

What she also noticed, with some fascination and alarm, was that he had begun to take off his wrappings. He started with his right hand and gradually unwrapped the bandages steadily making his way up his arm, revealing smooth, pale skin.

Suddenly, he looked over at her, his eyes gleaming with unbridled mirth.

Rani paused in her step. She felt heat rise in her face, embarrassed at being caught ogling at him take off simple body wrappings as if he was stripping all his clothes.

However, he turned away from her and kept going, taking obvious joy in her discomfort. He stripped the bandages from his left arm revealing the slight bulging vein there. Then he moved to his neck and face.

She waited with baited breath. Slowly, teasingly, he unwrapped the bandages starting with his neck and worked his way up. With each round he took, a strip of pale skin became unveiled to her. She tried her best not to seem too eager to know how he looked like under the mask. But she would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't at least a little bit curious.

It was said that Yato women were beautiful creatures with the palest, smoothest skin, gorgeous faces, and luscious bodies. For Yato men, the rumors were much the same. Painfully handsome faces that would make any woman, and even men, swoon at the sight. Strong nimble bodies honed through years of battle that would persuade anyone to _entertain_ them for a night.

However, his back was still facing her, so she couldn't see his face. And she wasn't about to ask him to turn around, unless she wants him to make some comment about how he knew she couldn't resist him.

Instead, she kept silent. He would show her what he looked like soon enough.

Any bandages he stripped were simply dropped on the floor for some poor muck to pick up, probably.

She pushed them off to the sides with her foot so no one would have any accidents while walking through here. Just because she was a prisoner on this ship doesn't mean she can't earn their respect by showing some kindness. However, knowing how the Yato mind works, they may not see it the same way.

He continued to wordlessly lead her through seemingly endless hallways before reaching a large metal door, and by the time they reached the entrance, all the wrappings were gone from his body.

He opened the door. "In here."

Once she followed him inside, she deliberately walked by him, avoiding his face and looked around the room instead. She realized that he'd shown her to a bedroom and dropped her bags. It looked a lot like a hotel room with how impersonal it was. There were no pictures, the walls were stark white, and the bed also had plain white sheets. The whole damn room was far too white for her. She felt like she was in a hospital room.

"This'll be you're room while you're here. And don't try to lock yourself in," he warned her from the doorway.

She finally turned to him and the first thing she realized was that she had been right. He is attractive, incredibly so, and she took a good long look at him. His complexion was almost as pale and smooth as a woman's, expected of Yato since they spend most of their lives hidden from the sun.

Yet, his jaw was firm and strong, and his nose was slightly crooked, probably from when she threw her shoe at him, she thought with smug satisfaction. There was also a slight curve to his lips that made it look like he was permanently amused by something.

While she was used to seeing men with warm brown skin from laboring under the sun, his pale complexion didn't make him seem less masculine in any sense. In fact, it gave him a kind of beauty women could be jealous of. His breathtaking face coupled with his lithe body made him handsome in the wickedest of ways. On Adra, he would definitely be a catch with how revered light colored skin was to her people.

"Hope you like what you see," he purred, casually making his way across the room towards her with silent catlike steps.

"I've seen better, honorable men more attractive than you," she replied evenly, refusing to back away from him. Let him try and intimidate her.

He merely gave a throaty chuckle as he approached her, his newly revealed lips taking on a feral grin. In a surprisingly baritone voice he said, "Careful little girl, I'm an honorable and decent man only when it suits me." He slightly inclined his head at her. "I'm a pirate, remember? If you thought me to be decent and honorable you're sorely mistaken." His cerulean eyes glinted dangerously under the light. "I'm anything _but_ those things."

His eyes fell to her slightly parted lips and he had to resist the urge to press his own against them and taste her. Instead, he encroached on her space and spun her around to face a long mirror that was propped up on the wall, pressing her against the length of his body. One hand wrapped around her waist while the other lightly encircled her delicate looking throat.

Rani let out small squeak looking at the terrified girl reflected in the mirror. This was the closest he's ever been to her before and the evidence was digging into her from behind. She could hardly breath with him so close and could barely contain her very unlady like squeals when Kamui began to lightly roll his hips against her, his clothed erection grinding into her ass. Did she really do that to him? He held eye contact with her through the mirror, forcing her petrified eyes to meet his darkening lustful ones while he wantonly slid his hands up and down her rapidly heating body.

He raked his heated gaze over their connected forms causing her to squirm in his arms in a desperate to put space between them. However, her movements just caused him to let out a deep groan while he picked up his pace.

She was obviously at a loss for what to do in this compromising situation and he decided to encourageher by brushing his lips against the curve of her ear and whispering hoarsely, " _Fuck_. You feel good. You've no idea what you do to me. From the moment I laid eyes on you tied on the ground like that…" He licked his dry lips, his tongue lightly flicking against her ear, "…you're delectable soft body wrapped up like a little present," he squeezed her hips, "…just waiting to be plucked." He moaned softly against her neck, a sound that shot hot moisture straight between her legs and made it difficult to stand.

Trying not to look too glazed, she met his lecherous gaze through the mirror and asked, "I-is this why you brought me h-here? To make me your fucking whore?"

"No." He replied breathlessly, not wanting her to misunderstand his intentions. "I brought you here for the reasons I claimed before. But, this…" He gave a particularly hard thrust against her, causing her to jolt forward and let out an involuntary gasp of pleasure, "…would be a nice benefit. Don't you agree?"

She tried to pull away. "Are you mad! Get off me! This is insane. I won't be used like some cheap sex slave for your own amusement."

Suddenly, he pulled her towards the bed, keeping their bodies pressed against each other, and pushed her face down against the mattress and climbed on top of her.

"You'll change your tune soon," he said giving a final roll of his hips and pushing off her.

He quickly righted his disheveled appearance and said, "In a half hour I'll have someone come get you. I need to introduce you to some people."

With that last remark, he smirked at her defiled looking form and left.

As soon as the door shut Rani turned on her back and stared blankly at the ceiling, the affects of their _session_ burning her nether regions. She guessed that in addition to training with him, she would probably also have to do this as well. It may be somewhat unwilling but she'll admit it might be enjoyable. He seemed to know what he was doing. But, he couldn't just take liberties with her and do whatever he wanted. It was clear that he thought he could push her around. She had to think of a way to show him she's not to be messed with. She had to take control, somehow.


	4. Confrontations

Hey guys! I'm so sorry for going MIA for like a year! I'm back! Here's the 4th chapter and I promise that this story will get done! If anyone's interested this story can also be found on archive of our own under the same name: rhysandh. Without further ado, the story continues! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gintama

* * *

Rani stood at the head of a long table warily facing Kamui and four other men who stared up at her with blank unreadable expressions. She felt her stomach clench in nervousness. Most likely, none of them were happy at the prospect of having a woman on board working with them.

Even though none of the men were yelling bloody murder, it was obvious that some were more passionate in their disagreement with their young captain's decision judging by the glare one of them was shooting her.

She swallowed. Her mouth suddenly feeling incredibly dry. How was she supposed to live here if no one was willing to work with or help her?

She glared right back at the man giving her a dirty look. It's not like she wanted to be here either. If she could leave she would be out the door she was forced through. She wanted to leave as much as they wanted her dead, probably. This wasn't her decision, which was quite apparent thinking back on what transpired in her room with Kamui earlier.

Her face heated up in shame remembering what exactly he did to her and she stared down at her feet. Anything to avoid the piercing stares of the men in front of her.

Kamui chuckled at her expression, probably sensing exactly what it was she suddenly felt embarrassed about. He didn't give a damn about the tension in the room as he leaned back in his chair and kicked his legs on to the table, a wicked smile adorning his lips. "So...everyone, this is Rani aaaand as you can see she is a girl," he said, motioning towards her chest.

 _How dare he!_ Her face flared up and she resisted the urge to fidget or squirm under his crude jokes and simply crossed her arms, boring her eyes into his from across the table.

He winked back at her and she clenched her fists. She would not let him or any of them for that matter, see her discomfort. If she was going to assert herself she would have to desensitize herself to their stupid sexist comments.

"Now that you've stated the fucking obvious - "

"Oooh, what a mouth you've got on you," he said, mirth dancing in his eyes.

She rolled her eyes and opened her mouth to continue, but noticed that all of Kamui's subordinates were still looking at her as if she'd grown a second head.

"Are the others just going to stare at me like they've never seen a woman before or introduce themselves?"

One of them sat up and began to lowly growl at her in warning. She met his intense gaze with her own. "Gods, I feel sorry for you lot. Can't imagine how out of practice you must be if this is how you react to seeing a young girl. You're dicks must be all shriveled up from disuse," she laughed. "How are you even still alive? Doesn't it hurt after not doing it for so long?"

Silence was her response and her hands started to moisten due to nerves. Maybe she went too far. Even Kamui didn't seem to know what to say and stared at her with wide eyes before slapping his hand over his face and throwing his head back in laughter. To the other men's credit, they were all at a loss as how to react and opted to look anywhere but her.

"You're too funny," he chortled. "Guys, introduce yourselves. Come one I've got things to do." He gestured for one of them to stand.

One of them stood. "Elias," he stated and promptly sat back down. He was a large man with thick brown hair and tan skin. If Rani ever got in a fight with him he could easily crush her skull. She gulped at the thought.

The next two introduced themselves as Reo and Touma. Both as large as Elias and equally as intimidating. She simply nodded to them in acknowledgment and they sat back down, choosing to ignore her existence.

The final pirate stood. Upon first glance she could easily see that he was much younger than the first three. Probably, closer to Kamui in age and like the captain, he had sharp features with light stubble and keen hazel eyes. What was different between them was his golden brown skin and tousled black hair. He was incredibly attractive and if he weren't shooting daggers at her, Rani wouldn't have minded getting to know him more.

"I'm Kaz," he spat. "Just for the record, you don't belong here. This isn't a place for spineless little girls."

Rani sucked in a breath and glanced at Kamui. He narrowed his eyes at his subordinate, but didn't say anything. _Hmph, he's lenient._

Obviously, Kaz speaking out directly against his captain's decision didn't warrant discipline. Or, in this case Kamui's version of discipline, death.

"You don't know anything about me. How do you know whether I'm spineless or not?" she raised a mocking brow at him. "For all you know, I could be a samurai or something."

"Yeah, but you're not," he hissed pushing his chair aside till it hit the wall and stalked towards her.

His tall figure loomed over her as he approached. Cold fury lit up his eyes as they bore into hers. In return, she smiled back. She could take him, perhaps most of them. Her forte was distance fighting, which was easy through blood manipulation, and keeping these big brutes at a distance shouldn't be too difficult.

"Try me," she said. "I may not be a samurai, but I can do other things, I promise."

Kaz clenched his teeth and grasped the front of her shirt getting in her face. "Listen here _girl_ , you just do as your told and keep out of our business, otherwise..."

Abuto, who had been quietly observing began to rise from his seat, preparing to intervene but Kamui placed a hand on his arm, silently ordering him to back down. His attention focused on the spectacle in front of him. The other men observed with mild curiosity.

"Do your worst big guy. I can take what you dish out," she retorted wrapping her hands around his fists. Screw hiding her abilities, these fuckers deserve it. "I'll show you just how spineless I am." At that moment, she dug her nails into his fingers.

"Fuck!" He released her as if she were hot lava and hissed rubbing his sore fingers. Rani could see the small red indents where her nails had dug in almost breaking his skin.

She smirked at him. "Oh, did I hurt you? Is the poor Yato in pain, oh my," she mocked, tilting her head to the side.

Still holding his bruised hand he growled, "You little bitch! I'll kill you - "

"Ok that's enough," Kamui said standing up. He glared at Rani and she looked back dumbfounded. What did she do? She was just defending herself the way these people would defend themselves.

"All of you leave, meeting's over."

With that command, they all filed out without so much as a backward glance. Kaz on the other hand spat in her direction on his way out.

Her face scrunched up in disgust. She hated spitting, it was a nasty habit, but one she would have to get used to.

"You may as well get used to him and the others," Kamui said from across the room. "They're my highest ranked subordinates that I..." he paused searching for the right word, "trust the most so you better get used to dealing with them."

She groaned in frustration. "Fine, but why? I don't have an issue with them. They have one with me," she pointed to herself. "If anything, they should be trying to get along with me, not the other way around."

He looked at her with bored lidded eyes and strolled around the table. "Get them to like you then," he suggested as he approached the large window on the opposite side to stare out into space.

Despite the number of years of traveling through the vast darkness that was space, it never seized to amaze him how large it truly was. There were so many planets they have yet to see, and will probably never see. _Life is only so long_ , he thought bitterly.

Rani frowned at his broad back. "And how exactly am I supposed to do that?" she said.

He turned to her and shrugged. "Not my problem."

"What?" she scoffed placing her hands on her hips. "Of course it is - "

"No, it's really not," he argued. "You're your own person, figure it out. I may have brought you on to this ship, but I can't fight every battle for you when one of them decides your shit. You gotta figure out how to deal with that yourself. That's why I didn't intervene when Kaz was about to kick your ass, if you were wondering. Now, leave," he finished and waved his hand, dismissing her from the room.

She crossed her arms and fumed at his statement. Sure, he was right. But, she didn't want to be here to begin with!

"I don't know how to get back," she said, glancing back at the other pirate who had stayed throughout this whole ordeal silently observing.

Kamui huffed, placed a hand on the small of her back and guided her towards the door.

"Hey!" She protested but allowed herself to be pushed nonetheless until the door slid open and he roughly shoved her outside. She stumbled for a moment before righting herself.

"Figure. It. Out." He said then shut the door on her.

She grit her teeth in annoyance and turned to find her way back until the door slid open again and Kamui's head popped out. "Also, Like I said before, don't use your abilities on the crew. They won't like that, trust me."

With that final statement he slid the door shut and she rolled her eyes. How was she supposed to defend herself against these brutes. Her knife could only take on so many people.

* * *

Now that everyone was gone, Kamui and Abuto had some time to themselves to talk.

The young captain sat back down, leaned back and glowered at the ceiling in deep thought. A small frown graced his lips.

Abuto sat back in his chair with a relieved sigh, waiting for his captain to share whatever was on his mind.

He was thankful that no one had gotten hurt. No doubt the girl could do some considerable damage to their men and, there's no doubt that Kaz could have seriously maimed her. Despite his Yato heritage, Abuto preferred to avoid violence if he could.

When their eccentric leader showed up earlier that day with a young girl in tow and told them she would be joining them in his own _unique_ way, he had no clue what to think. They had never had a woman on their crew much less a girl no older than their leader.

And later, when Kamui told him that she was a blood manipulator when they were waiting for one of the crew to escort her to the meeting room, Abuto was even more stunned.

It had been a while since he'd met one and while he didn't have anything against blood manipulator tribes, he knew crew members that would sooner see Rani's head on a pike than fight alongside her.

However, what Abuto wanted to know was what could have possibly driven the captain to make such an unexpected decision. Admittedly, Kamui had always been a sporadic and unpredictable young man. He changed his mind and carefully thought out plans without informing anyone. But...this was something else entirely!

There would be fights. There already almost was one. If the captain hadn't intervened, things could have escalated to extremely violent levels between Rani and Kaz. Not to mention, she could be killed within a day and neither he nor Kamui would now because no one would bother to report it. Her body could be found one day rotting on the ship somewhere.

In his opinion (not that it mattered) the girl was safer on that corrupt desert planet than she was on this ship. But, Abuto was curious to know what compelled the captain to make this decision.

He just hadn't decided how to broach the topic, yet.

He had become attuned to the boy's moods throughout his career, letting him know when to back off or save certain discussion for later. Seeing Kamui's reserved mood now, he decided to take a gamble and just start. The worst he could lose was his arm or leg, nothing too important. He chuckled, amused at his own humor.

Alerted by the sound, Kamui glanced at Abuto out of the corner of his eye.

"Captain, I'm curious about something," he said warily.

Kamui simply hummed in response signaling for him to continue. He knew exactly what his second in command was 'curious' about. He began to idly play with his braid.

Abuto cleared his throat and asked, "Why bring her here? A blood manipulator no less."

He rested his arm against his forehead and exhaled. "I dunno. She looked interesting," was his curt reply.

'Interesting' could mean many things with it came to the captain. Being a blood manipulator, she must be pretty strong and he was attracted to that. He probably wanted to fight her. If so, why not just fight her, kill her, and be done with it? Why bring her here where she was a lamb walking into a den of starving lions.

"If you were looking for a fight, you would have killed her...but you haven't. Instead you brought her here," he said tapping the table. "There must be a reason."

He wanted Kamui to be honest with him. But he knew that wasn't something he was accustomed to open communication and honesty. It was something Kamui would have to learn. Who knows when that will happen, though.

He blinked and sat upright in his seat. Normally, he would scold Abuto for talking down to him like that. However, he knew he was going to have to share this story sooner or later and decided to just get it over with. He couldn't keep the weird dreams hidden much longer; they were going to affect his sleep at some point.

Plus, his second in command was observant and persistent. There was no getting around him. Abuto was too questioning and perceptive for his own good sometimes.

Resting his head against his hand, he drummed his fingers on the table nervously. He didn't know how to tell the older man about his visions, dreams, whatever they were. It felt too personal for him. He felt like an adolescent who got caught for jerking off by their parents.

Abuto waited patiently for him to say something and Kamui gazed out the window refusing to meet the older man's gaze.

"What I'm about to tell you is...weird to say the least," he started.

Abuto's expression remained blank urging him to continue. He crossed his legs and waited.

Kamui clenched his jaw. He really didn't want to do this. It was humiliating enough to admit even to himself that he was so affected by mere dreams of her.

Despite his conscience screaming at him to shut the fuck up and forget this whole conversation he continued. "About two years ago, I started having these...dreams - visions, whatever," he said running a hand through his bangs. "I wasn't sure what they were. Still not sure to be honest."

He glanced at Abuto who was still just patiently listening. His face expressionless, not revealing any of his thoughts on Kamui's story so far.

Swallowing, he went on. "The dreams were about Rani. But, it was weird. It was like I was in her body seeing everything through her eyes. But I knew I was still me," he said placing a hand on his chest.

Abuto let out a stressed sigh. He knew exactly what was going on. He just didn't know how to break the news to his commander. Why did he have to get stuck dishing out bad news, or what _would_ be bad news in Kamui's eyes. It was going to get him killed one of these days, if not today. He desperately hoped that today wouldn't be that day and mentally prayed. This was going to be a long night.


	5. A Regretful Bind

Here's the next chapter! A big thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read my story and favorite it and follow! Also all the reviews are very much appreciated! Without a further ado here's the 5th chapter! Let me know what your thoughts are! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama

* * *

"What exactly happened in these dreams?"

He sighed. "Not much at first. They weren't that interesting. Just showed her doing random things. Reading, cooking, stuff like that," he said staring at a dent in the wall. "Although...I could also feel her emotions. Like when she was reading I could feel joy and excitement, which I assume was what she was feeling cause I don't fucking read," he scoffed.

Abuto hummed in agreement not taking his eyes off the young captain. It was strange seeing him so vulnerable and he felt honored that Kamui felt comfortable enough around him to let even a little bit of his guard down. However, right now he wished that anyone else were in his place because the honor he currently felt was soon going to be replaced with enough anxiety and stress to send him to an early grave.

"The one dream that really got me interested in meeting her was when she drained blood from a lizard."

Abuto's eyes widened in fascination, "Why the hell did she do that?"

"She had been starving," he explained. "Not sure for how long but it must have been a while because I could feel how hungry she was. I could feel her hunger and pain as if it were my own," he absentmindedly rested is hand on his stomach. "Other than that, that's why I recruited her. She's strong and has potential. She just needs to work at it."

His subordinate hadn't said anything throughout his story and when Kamui looked up he noticed his tense form unwilling to meet his eyes and raised a questioning brow.

"Well? What's your opinion?"

Abuto gulped. It was now or never. He highly doubted he would work up the courage later to tell the captain what he was about to say now. He really needed a vacation.

"Captain, how much do you know about...soul bonds...amongst the Yato?" He asked cautiously.

Kamui narrowed his eyes at him. "What? No, I haven't heard of them at all. What does that have to do with anything I just told you?"

Abuto rubbed the back of his head. How was he going to explain this and leave the room with all his limbs attached?

"Listen ummm Ka - captain," he quickly corrected. "I don't know if you've ever heard, but, there are some Yatos who end up having a bond with someone they've known before. It's extremely rare, but it happens. And they usually start out in the form of these...telepathic sort of dreams."

The only part of his explanation that stood out to him was the word 'bond'. Kamui clutched the armrests on his chair, leaving large dents in the thick plastic.

"Bond? What. Bond?" He asked, slowly rising from his seat.

Abuto flinched slightly at the cold look in his normally cheerful eyes.

But he had to know. Keeping the boy in the dark any longer would do him more harm than good.

"Well, you see, the thing is, I think - I'm almost a hundred percent sure that you and this young girl are bonded to each other. In other words your mates," he added before Kamui suddenly grabbed Abuto by the collar of his shirt and pulled him out of his chair.

"I've never heard of any bond amongst Yatos before. This is the first time I'm hearing about it," he hissed. "How stupid do you think I am Abuto. Stop. Fucking. Lying. To me or I swear I'll-"

"I'm not lying, Captain. Promise."

The young pirate glowered down at the older man who met his threatening gaze with as nonchalant of an expression he could manage. Kamui was almost like an animal in that sense. Any weakness or fear on Abuto's part would be exploited until he either died at the captain's hands or was at least severely maimed.

Seeing how calm he was, Kamui slammed his second against the wall and pressed his arm against his throat, holding the older man in place while cutting off some of his oxygen as well. He quickly scanned his blank expression and held back a scathing remark. No lies could be detected and he couldn't conceive a reason as to why Abuto would lie to him. He must be telling the truth, partially anyway.

"You said a bond can only happen between Yatos." He dug his arm into Abuto's throat.

The older Yato groaned and clutched at the captain's arm signaling his need for air before he could explain.

Kamui grit his teeth, but reluctantly allowed him to breathe and took a step back.

He crumpled to the floor on his hands and knees, and coughed violently. He took a moment to breathe in much needed air before replying. "Normally, it is between Yatos. But, in some cases it can be between a Yato and someone of a different race, ethnicity, or even species. Reoccurring dreams of the same individual where you share their emotions and pain is usually a tip off that you have a mate."

The younger man crossed his arms and said, "You also said that a mate is someone you've known before." He sneered down at Abuto."I've never met this girl in my life."

He took a moment to compose himself and catch his breath, before standing. Easing himself back into a chair he cleared his throat. "It's possible that you met her when you were younger and had just joined the Harasume. It could have been something as simple as making brief eye contact or accidentally bumping into her."

Kamui clenched his teeth and whipped around. "This is ridiculous! How is it that I've never heard of - of this stupid bond before! How is this the first I'm hearing about it!"

His subordinate rested his elbows on the table and leaned forward. "Who exactly was there to tell you about Yato bonds, huh. Your mother? Your Father?"

The young captain opted to ignore Abuto's jab at his failure of a family and focused on the wall in front of him. He could just kill her and be rid of this incessant mating. Sadly, it was a waste of potential such as hers with the lack of blood manipulators around these days; it truly was a pity to end her life so soon. First, he had to make sure that there wouldn't be any consequences of killing her.

He glanced at his second in command from over his shoulder and asked, "Would anything happen if I kill her?" Silence permeated the room. A dangerous gleam lurked within his eyes.

Abuto leaned back in his seat and let out a humorless chuckle. "Trust me, you don't want to do that."

Turning towards his subordinate he tilted his head in question.

"You may not feel emotionally attached to her yet, but killing her will cause unbearable emptiness to fill you. It'll feel like someone reached into your chest and ripped out your heart. Or, so they say. That is, other Yatos who have lost their mates."

He shrugged his shoulders and said, "But I won't die, right? As long as I don't die who cares. I'll get over it."

With that, Kamui began to make his way towards the door and be done with the deed. For once, he'd make sure that it was quick and clean death instead of savoring it. He almost felt bad about having to kill her, but he couldn't afford any such attachments right now or ever.

Abuto started to get up from his seat. "Hold up a sec, you could die. It's not a guarantee that you'll live through the loss."

Sighing, he turned towards the older man and shot him an annoyed glare.

He took that as his cue to explain. "They call it death by heartbreak. And it happens often between couples with incredibly strong relations. But, the chances of you dying are still quite high simply because of your exposure to her."

Kamui stared at the door with a determined look and said, "Hmph, I'll take my chances," waving his hand in dismissal.

His subordinate huffed, plopped back down in his seat and crossed his legs. He was fairly sure that the captain wouldn't be able to go through with the act. If he did, it would truly be a testament to the lad's mercilessness.

Suddenly, an idea came to him. He sat up and said, "Hey, captain, how's about we make a bet?"

Just as Kamui was halfway out the door he turned to his second and asked, "What kind?"

"I bet 50,000 yen that you won't be able to kill her," he said confidently.

He smirked in return. "Fine, we'll see," and with that last remark made his way to Rani's room.

* * *

Strolling down the hall, he figured he could just slit her throat and be done with it. He was confident in his ability to dispose of her. There was never a time in which he failed at killing any of his victims. Once he set his sight on someone, his or her life was practically over.

Upon, reaching her room he hesitated by the door for a few seconds before bursting in and spotted her sleeping in bed.

He quietly approached the sleeping girl and callously turned her body to face him. Her hair fell away from her face as he flipped her over, revealing a peaceful expression. _Deep sleeper_ , he noted.

She looked a lot younger and even more innocent while she slept. There was no scowl and her features were smoothed out. What really stood out to him were her eyelashes. They were incredibly long and almost brushed the skin just beneath her eyes.

Without realizing it, he slowly reached out and gently brushed a strand of hair away from her face, and with that simple action came a surge of protectiveness. He would never let anything happen to her, he would shield her from any and all harm. She was too pretty and cute to kill. Who would ever want to hurt someone so sweet looking? He would kill anyone who even looked at her wrong! All he wanted to do was lean in and taste those sweet cherub lips and -

He quickly retrieved his hand - which had been stroking her cheek - and glared at it. It was like his hand had a mind of its own! This was not happening. He was not going soft and doe eyed because of some stupid girl he barely knew! He'd never had any trouble in the past hurting her, why now!

With that thought, he tilted her head back to reveal her smooth tan neck and aimed for her jugular. He was about to bring his hand down with a swift swipe and be done with it when, suddenly, a fierce wave of conflicting anger washed over him. The same kind he felt when he saw those traffickers go after her, the same kind he felt when he even thought about her death when he met her.

At first, he chalked it up to the possessiveness and control he was used to having over others, but now he knows better. It was this fucked up bond, this flimsy little girl! He ground his teeth.

 _It's because of her that I've been second guessing myself, because of her and this bond that I even brought her here!_

How could he even think of doing something like this to his own mate! He brought her here! She was his to protect, his to cherish, his to love -

Kamui flinched at his own thought process and shook his head. No, no, no. No. He can do this. He has to! There can be _any_ weaknesses to exploit.

He went to strike her again when a loud yawn escaped her mouth and she opened her warm brown eyes.

* * *

The first thing she saw when she woke up was her new boss/captor hovering by her bed. She moved back in surprise and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes to get a better look at him.

She opened her mouth to ask how long he had been there when she noticed the utterly conflicted look on his face. He was looking down at his hands with something akin to shock.

"Aaare you ok?" She drawled. "What happened?"

His head shot up hearing her question and he gave her the most confused expression she'd ever seen on him. He was looking at her, but not really seeing her. He murmured a quick 'nothing' before filing out of the room and slamming the door shut with a rattling bang.

She scratched the back of her head. _What the hell's wrong with him?_ She thought before falling back down in bed. Whatever, it didn't matter. His problems were his own, not hers.


End file.
